Transitioning Horses to Spring Grazing

Early spring pasture grasses also tend to be very high in non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) during spring growth, which can be a problem for certain horses. Non-structural carbohydrates include sugars, fructans, and starch. These carbohydrates are an important energy source for horses, but they can trigger laminitis for some horses with certain health conditions (such as laminitis, insulin dysregulation, Equine Metabolic Syndrome, and Cushing’s/PPID). If you have a horse with these health problems, you should consult with your veterinarian about whether your horse should be allowed to graze or if access to spring pastures should be limited.

Methods for Transitioning to Spring Pastures

If your horses have been confined during the winter, you will need to transition them slowly to spring pastures. It is best to wait until pastures have grown to a minimum of 6 inches before grazing so that the plants have adequate time to recover from winter and grow new leaf tissue.

Once the pastures are ready to graze, begin with short grazing periods for the first few days (15-30 minutes per day). Slowly increase the grazing periods by an additional 15-30 minutes per day until the horse is grazing for 3-4 hours daily. Continue this grazing period for another week or two before changing over to your desired daily turnout time. If possible, time your turnout periods after feeding hay or grain so that the horse is not very hungry when it is offered grass.

Grazing muzzles are another solution to reduce pasture intake if turnout time cannot be transitioned gradually. The muzzle allows the horse to drink water and take small bites of grass, preventing them from consuming large amounts of forage. They can reduce pasture intake by 30-80%, and many factors influence their effectiveness. It can take some trial and error to find a style of grazing muzzle that works for your horse, but luckily there are many on the market. When trying out grazing muzzles, realize that it will take the horse some time to learn how to use it (especially if they have never had one on before). The horse will still need supplemental forage (hay) when it is not turned out.

While spring is the most obvious time to transition your horse to pasture, you may also want to consider these practices any time your horse's turnout management changes. For example, if you bring home a new horse that was on poor pasture but your farm has high-quality pasture, you may want to transition it gradually to the new pasture. If you are rotationally grazing and your horse had to spend time confined to its sacrifice lot due to inadequate forage (in the summer, perhaps), then you may want to transition gradually back to pasture.